Since the beginning of his first term in 2019, the former governor of Minas Gerais, Romeu Zema (Novo), advocated for the privatization of Cemig (Companhia Energética de Minas Gerais).
The argument was that the State should concentrate its efforts on areas such as health, education, and public safety, leaving the electricity sector to the private sector.
The proposal made progress in November 2024, when the state government submitted a bill to the ALMG (Legislative Assembly of Minas Gerais) to enable the privatization of the company. However, the initiative never materialized and is now likely to lose ground on the new government's agenda.
This week, after being elected governor of Minas Gerais in the first round of the 2026 elections, Cleitinho Azevedo (Republicanos) stated, in an interview with MG1, a TV Globo news program in Minas Gerais, that he does not intend to privatize the company. "Cemig is profitable. What I have to do is put competent people in charge of Cemig," he declared.
Cleitinho also criticized the announcement of sponsorships for football clubs in Minas Gerais through state-owned companies.
On September 29th, the state government announced the allocation of R$ 32 million to Atlético-MG, Cruzeiro, and América-MG, with R$ 15 million for each of the first two clubs and R$ 2 million for the third, with sponsorship expected to begin in 2027.
The measure was presented by the government as a way to support clubs in the face of lost revenue from sports betting companies.
According to the state administration, the funds would come from resources already allocated to advertising and sponsorship by the state-owned companies Cemig and Codemge (Companhia de Desenvolvimento de Minas Gerais).
Cleitinho, however, questioned the priority given to the initiative and argued that the energy company's resources should be directed towards benefits for consumers.
“They say Cemig doesn’t have money, but now they’re sponsoring SAF (Sociedade Anônima do Futebol – a type of public limited company in Brazil). Why don’t they take the surplus money and subsidize the population’s energy bills, since it’s there to serve the state? We don’t have to take a profitable state-owned company and bargain with it. I’m not going to do that,” he said.
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I'm from Rio de Janeiro, but I have deep admiration for Cleitinho and I think, or rather, I'm certain, that he will be an excellent governor. Good luck in your new endeavor and keep going straight, don't bend, don't waver, don't falter, don't become corrupt. The population is counting on you, and who knows, maybe one day in the Presidential Palace??? Who knows…